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A review by island_reader
Passion to Die For by Marilyn Pappano
3.0
For the most part this was an enjoyable and intriguing book. I was surprised I continued with it though because there was some serious formatting issues with my copy. It made it difficult at times to read the book. And if that's the quality of ebook I should expect from Harlequins website, then I won't be getting any from them again. Anyway, the pacing was excellent in this story and I was hooked from the start, a real page-turner. I was also surprised with that, because I did not care for the main characters Tommy and Ellie. And what was up with all the 'ee' sounding names?! Tommy, Ellie, Robbie, Annie, Kiki, Marnie, Jeffrey, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. It was super annoying.
I had trouble though connecting with the H/h. I felt Ellie was a whiner/complainer and Tommy was gullible and a masochist. I didn't believe in their love for each other at all because it wasn't really shown. Implied, yes but not shown. Honestly, I hated Ellie and I couldn't respect Tommy because he loved her for whatever reason. The romance just didn't work for me.
The mystery was excellent though. The culprit was totally out of left field, and not even mentioned as a suspect, and the climax of the situation was very quick and abrupt. But for 90% of the book I was thoroughly intrigued trying to figure out the whodunnit. That part of the plot was the saving grace for my completing the book and ultimately giving it 3 stars. If not for that this would have been a 1 star or DNF. I was disappointed by that fact as I'm a huge fan of Marilyn Pappano. I love her writing voice a lot. This is definitely the lowest I've ever rated one of her books and I'm sure it won't happen again. Unfortunately, I just can't recommend this one, not when she has so many other truly great books out there.
I had trouble though connecting with the H/h. I felt Ellie was a whiner/complainer and Tommy was gullible and a masochist. I didn't believe in their love for each other at all because it wasn't really shown. Implied, yes but not shown. Honestly, I hated Ellie and I couldn't respect Tommy because he loved her for whatever reason. The romance just didn't work for me.
The mystery was excellent though. The culprit was totally out of left field, and not even mentioned as a suspect, and the climax of the situation was very quick and abrupt. But for 90% of the book I was thoroughly intrigued trying to figure out the whodunnit. That part of the plot was the saving grace for my completing the book and ultimately giving it 3 stars. If not for that this would have been a 1 star or DNF. I was disappointed by that fact as I'm a huge fan of Marilyn Pappano. I love her writing voice a lot. This is definitely the lowest I've ever rated one of her books and I'm sure it won't happen again. Unfortunately, I just can't recommend this one, not when she has so many other truly great books out there.